Politics

The White House said it was in the final stage of drafting a plan for closing the Guantánamo prison for foreign terrorism suspects, racing against time to resolve one of President Barack Obama's most intractable problems. Spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration hoped to short circuit opposition from Republicans in Congress who have blocked Obama from closing the prison.

Argentina's presidential hopeful and Buenos Aires governor Daniel Scioli was received on Wednesday by President of Cuba Raul Castro for an official audience in Havana, making the incumbent candidate the first foreign politician to meet the head of state since the normalising of relations with the United States.

Argentina's current government presidential ticket for October's ballot, Daniel Scioli and Carlos Zannini has a solid lead of 18 points over its main competitor, the PRO party with hopefuls Mauricio Macri and Gabriela Michetti, according to the latest public opinion poll released by Aresco.

The Latin American Integration Association, Aladi, with main offices in Montevideo, will be holding on Thursday an extraordinary meeting on the Falklands/Malvinas Islands question in the framework of the recent Day of Affirmation of Argentine rights over the South Atlantic Islands (June 10), and the fiftieth anniversary of UN Assembly Resolution 2065, which called on Argentina and UK to dialogue and find a solution to the dispute.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's popularity slumped to a new low and support for her impeachment grew amid a deepening corruption scandal and a severe economic downturn, according to an opinion poll published on Tuesday.

Officials from the world's largest emerging nations launched on Tuesday the New Development Bank (NDB), the second of two new policy banks heavily backed by Beijing that are being pitched as alternatives to existing institutions such as the World Bank. Also known as the BRICS bank, it follows soon after the establishment of the China-led Asian Investment Infrastructure Bank (AIIB).

The US dollar kept climbing in Argentina and ended trading on Tuesday above the 15 Pesos threshold after having advanced 30 cents on Monday and 54 cents today. Sunday's electoral result in the City of Buenos Aires where the pro-business PRO party just managed to scrape by with victory, has triggered growing nervousness and speculation among savers and traders.

The Chilean Congress made an unprecedented mea culpa on Tuesday for a series of corruption cases involving lawmakers that have eroded public confidence in the institution. In the first review of the state of the Congress in its 204-year history, lawmakers acknowledged the damage caused by corruption, including accusations of tax fraud leveled against four opposition figures, two of them members of Congress.

President Francois Hollande has said he would unveil emergency measures to help France’s livestock and dairy farmers on Wednesday. Tuesday’s announcement came as as livestock farmers caused chaos in the north west of France, using tractors and trucks full of manure and rubble to block roads.

The Falkland Islands government reacted strongly to statements by the Argentine official in charge of Malvinas affairs who claimed that the theft of squid and other valuable fish stocks in the South Atlantic, was the reason behind the success of the Islands' economy, according to a report from the Express.co.uk.